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“One day I’ll teach you how to dance.” A wartime promise. Green hair and a red tunic, a flash of bright light reflected on silver-white armor. Red hair and shining gold accents, red dance shoes underneath gauzy pants. A promise on a battlefield, between smoke and fire and the screams of the living and the dying. “Tell me you’ll learn,” Tethys had demanded, “So don’t you die on me.”
Vanessa, bleeding heavily from a cut on her arm, staining her long, white gloves red, red, red, had nodded even as her head began feeling light. “I’ll learn,” Vanessa promised, leaning harder on Tethys as they stumbled slowly back towards camp, and more importantly the healer’s tent. “I’ll make time to learn,” she promised again.
She wouldn’t die on Tethys, and she wouldn’t die on Tethys.
But neither did she make the time. There simply didn’t seem to be enough time, between battles and marches and exhausted, long sleeps where you could get them, and duty rotations that never seemed to end. A scar across her bicep, a ridge of shine tissue just shy of the protection of her pauldrons, was a reminder of that promise though, even after the wound had healed. Sometimes, at night after Tethys and half the camp had solidly fallen asleep, Vanessa would touch the skin around the wound (then later, the scar), and feel guilty. She hadn’t made the time today, and she knew she wouldn’t make the time tomorrow. And probably not even the day after that. The war took priority.
And then the war ended, and Prince Innes and Princess Tana led the Frelian troops home. Weary step after weary step, and it wasn’t until they had passed over the Rausten border into Renais that Vanessa realized she’d never taken the moment to dance. Those precious few moments after the Demon King had been sealed, then killed, and everyone laughed in the heart of Darkling Woods out of sheer relief, before princes and princesses, traitor generals and mercenary leaders gathered up their people and went home .
Even so, it was a relief to be back in her own country. A land she remembered in a nostalgic way, through the vision of a war-weary veteran. The idea of home, in the far north of Frelia, warmed by fires and traditional dishes reliant on fresh seafood, was something she thought of with growing restlessness with every step forward. When she thought of Tethys, gripping her bicep in a quiet moment, pensive and worried (how was she doing, was she thinking of Vanessa? did she know Vanessa was thinking of her, was she dancing for mercenaries still, or had she taken some time to reassess her life with the fighting over?), she thought of her mother’s ballroom dances backlit by their fireplace on cold winter nights.
She remembered dancing in circles on her father’s feet, while her mother coached Syrene through the steps of a proper waltz, through a foxtrot. She wondered who would lead, if she danced with Tethys. Would she lead, twirling Tethys around a dance floor, sure in her knowledge of the steps, of the timing? Would Tethys lead, using her expertise to dip Vanessa in a gesture not proper, but romantic? Or would Tethys refuse to waltz, and instead use her hands to guide Vanessa hips through the motions of a Jehannan dance, meant to be shared together?
Vanessa sighed, and wished she knew of an address to send a letter to. Paying a ransom’s worth of fees for the delivery would be worth it, to speak to Tethys again.
She hoped that Tethys was closer to her dream, dancing across Magvel, bringing happiness and renewed joys to the people. Vanessa hoped that their paths would cross, eventually, and Vanessa would promise as many hours to the lessons as the days they were apart, since their promise. (It was only the right form of repayment, for a promise left unfulfilled. It was only right.)
With only time and anticipation on her side, Vanessa tentatively sought out dance classes. There were several schools that provided a few lessons to the public, their primary source of income the education of noble children and aspiring professional dancers. They taught waltzes there, and the foxtrot. There were even casual classes for the tango, though the thought of such a partnered dance made Vanessa nervous. Who was she learning for, she had to ask herself.
Was it for herself? She knew she thought of Tethys while she was learning, but was Vanessa learning for Tethys? She thought she might be, but even if she was being honest with herself, she still shied away from that thought. The possibility that this was just a crush seemed faint, at this point. All these months, and Vanessa still thought of Tethys any time she heard a snippet of lively music, thought of big, infectious smiles and strong hands and sharp shoulders underneath her arm.
A soft touch in a dark tent, with the sound of other people loud in their ears. Perhaps an imagined fondness, turning a smile into something more, or perhaps just a smile. Long red hair Vanessa had braided once or twice, three times, because Tethys had other things she wanted to do with her hands and Vanessa had hers free.
Maybe her crush had gotten out of control, driving her to dance, to lend her body and its muscles to new exercises that didn’t feel as natural as drills and martial forms. And then there were her dreams. Daydreams, proper dreams, where she danced with Tethys, and Tethys kissed her. Hands on her hips that weren’t just guiding, or a press of bodies where dancing was only an excuse. It made her blush, it made her feel insecure. She wanted to have something to show, when, if, no. When she saw Tethys again. There would be a next time.
Vanessa just wasn’t sure when that would be. But she would be ready to dance, she would be ready to...ready to kiss, maybe. Well, she hoped. Feared? (Vanessa sighed, exasperated with herself, and touched the cloth over her bicep. Thinking on that scar, and her promise.)
In the end none of her lessons mattered. None of her careful practicing, none of her daydreaming, none of her regular dreaming, none of it came in handy. Tethys arrived in Frelia one month into summer. A sweltering one, which left Vanessa’s bangs stuck to her forehead, and left her ponytail clinging to her neck. It took her another four weeks to dance her way north, and then three days for Vanessa to see the adverts.
Flyers glued to the walls in the bars her fellow officers like to frequent struck her like a brick between the eyes. “Is that?” Tethys, definitely. It had to be! Who else would be described as the premier Jehannan dancer, completing a tour of the continent? It had to be.
“Oh yeah, this famous dancer, Tethys!” Her neighbor, Gerry from the cavalier corps, agreed. “She’s been dancing her way through Frelia, you know? My mother sent me a letter from the border, telling me I had to go see her dance. You planning on going, Peche?”
Mouth suddenly dry, and her heart up between her collar bones, Vanessa nodded. “I wouldn’t miss her dancing, not even for the entire world.” Which elicited laughter, which made Vanessa blush. “We served together, during the war.” Vanessa clarified, cheeks red, knowing it wouldn’t help.
“This the girl you been learning dances for?” Pushed Maybelle, an infantry captain. “C’mon, Vanessa we all know you’ve been lookin’ to impress a sweetheart.”
“Well,” Vanessa stalled, face growing hotter. “Maybe.”
Her fellow officers cheered loudly, picking up glasses and toasting.
“If you need a wingman, we’re all great fliers,” Anna, across the table insisted. One of Vanessa’s fellow aerial knight officers. “We’ll take you all the way to the stage, promise. Then you can impress your lady.”
“Yeah!!” Was the rest of the table’s enthusiastic response.
“Well, okay,” Vanessa finally agreed, embarrassed. “If you guys want to so bad.”
Cheers filled the air, and it was only another week until Vanessa entered the city’s concert hall. Nervous, in her very best clothing, excluding her formal, official dress uniform, with all her friends by her sides. “Wingmen,” Anna whispered, before giggling excitedly.
They pushed forward as a coordinated block, aiming for the closest seats to the stage. “There’s your girl,” Gerry teased, when the music started up and the first flash of gold jewelry and a whip of long red hair caught the eye. Vanessa teared up to see her, Tethys on the stage and smiling at the audience winningly. It had been so long…
When the music ended, Tethys waved to the crowd. They made eye contact, Vanessa was sure, and she endured ribbing from her friends as the hall slowly emptied, until it was just Vanessa.
“Good luck!” Anna whispered, shepherding Gerry away. Maybelle threw a hand sign for good luck back over Gerry’s shoulder, and Vanessa turned her eyes back to the stage as her heart pounded louder and louder in her ears.
Tethys’ appearance set her stomach aflutter. “Vanessa!” She cried, jumping from the stage to the floor, before launching herself aloft for Vanessa to catch. “Oh, you look wonderful!” And Vanessa twirled, moving with Tethys’ momentum, laughed despite herself.
“Yes, but look at you!” Vanessa countered, “You’re living your dream!” And Tethys looked just as amazing as she had before. Seemed just as vibrant, just as confident. Still the warmest, liveliest, most amazing woman Vanessa had ever gotten to know. Dropped her tone, her volume, “I’ve missed you.”
Tethys, still in the circle of Vanessa’s arm, brought her forehead to touch against Vanessa’s own. “I’ve missed you too.” But then she broke that contact and then brought both her hands up to cup Vanessa’s face. “Now, tell me. Are you ready to learn? You promised,” she teased. “Tell me you’re ready to learn.”
Grinning broadly, butterflies filling her lungs and warmth flooding her face, Vanessa promised, “I’m ready to learn.”